Hoover resident Ron Bradstreet named state commander for American Legion

by

Ron Bradsteet, a resident of the Southpointe subdivision in Hoover, this summer was named the Alabama commander for the American Legion.

Bradstreet, who served at least 11 years as commander of the Hoover-based Ryan Winslow American Legion Post 911 and two years as the commander for the 21st District in Jefferson County, now will provide leadership for the 170 chapters and almost 20,000 members of the American Legion throughout the state.

The American Legion pushes for better health care and benefits for veterans and their families and supports veterans’ rehabilitation, the children of veterans, Americanism and national security.

Bradstreet, 69, served more than 40 years in the U.S. Army, including more than 20 years of active service and more than 20 years as a Junior ROTC instructor in high schools.

Bradstreet got his start in the U.S. Army in 1967 and served two tours in Vietnam, working in communications.

After he returned to the United States, he served as a deputy sheriff in Florida. He also attended Rollins College and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He joined the ROTC program and then decided to re-enlist in the Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army military police corps.

He stayed on active duty for more than 16 years, working as a military police platoon leader, nuclear security officer, basic training company commander, assistant brigade operations officer, military intelligence company commander, commander of a counter-intelligence detachment in Honduras and chief of the leadership division at the U.S. Infantry School.

Bradstreet then left active duty and worked as a Junior ROTC instructor at Woodlawn and Ramsay high schools in Birmingham and Walker High School in Jasper. He also went back to school and earned a master’s degree in human resources management. He retired in January 2014 as a major.

In 2017, he received the Freedom Award given out by the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce to honor a role model who promotes the ideals of freedom and supports the government and U.S. military. His term as state commander for the American Legion goes through June 2020.